Fever
by Ventiwings
Summary: He guessed it was okay to catch a cold every now and then. Pre-Canon. Team STRQ fluff.


_He guessed it was okay to catch a cold every now and then._

* * *

 **A/N:** Oh boy, it's been a _long_ time since I've been on the fanfiction scene and _hopefully_ I'm not too rusty. Now, I know we didn't get much out of the canon about how Team STRQ interacted or how they were while they were students and this is mostly baseless headcanons I have. And I'm _always_ strict on canon, HOWEVER, I... I'm just really into the theory that Qrow had an unrequited love for Summer and this kinda happened aha ;; Their personalities are derived from how _I_ think they acted with one another just so anyone doesn't start yelling at me about how it doesn't fit their headcanon.

* * *

In which several mishaps concerning falling into a lake during a class outing resulted in soaking wet clothes and hair tangled with leaves and twigs. Raven clicked her tongue, shaking her head with distaste and plucking a piece of lilypad from her brother's silvery tresses. Her red eyes burned into his and he looked away with both huff and a sneeze.

"Idiot," she chastised.

"Smartass," he barked back, though it was weakened by a sniffle.

Shivering beside him was a grinning blond, with lilac eyes, he flashed a whimsy of reassurance to the crimson dressed woman, who in turn, rolled her scarlet ones. "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, Taiyang."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Raven, but!" he interjected while swinging both arms whilst holding his towel, "It was definitely worth it! Absolutely worth it! I'd do that again if the tree didn't fall because of the bad roots." The declaration was made with a hefty nod and the Branwen siblings rolled their eyes, though, bemused smiles played on their lips.

"Yeah because of the _roots_ ," Qrow started, beaming a quick grin at Raven.

With a hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips, she returned a look to Qrow. "Definitely _not_ because of someone's muscle headed weight, but because of the roots."

The victorious look on the blond's face melted right off and turned into a scowl. "Ha. Ha. I get it, I was an idiot too."

The siblings chuckled, and was immediately cut off at the scent of roses bursting through the door and a stack of towels and basket of medicine barreled in. Quietly, as though it were a whisper lost in the wind, their petite team leader spoke from behind the intimidating tower, "Um, I got some more…but you two really need to take a bath and change…"

"Finally, an actual _angel_ descended," Qrow praised before getting back handed by Raven. She scowled at him before shrugging and holding up a handful of leaves in between her fingers.

"I thought I should graciously help my brother, that's all," she replied while feigning innocence. "To show that I'm not a demon."

"I don't think you're a demon, Raven," Taiyang chimed and grinned when he received an appreciative smile from her. He practically glowed only to grimace when Qrow dug his elbow into his rib. "Augh, stop it, Qrow!"

"Oh, sorry, I thought that there was a bug on you."

"And you wanted to kill it with your elbow?!"

"Stop fighting!" Summer ordered, throwing the stack onto the floor to separate the two. Both of them blinked up at her and towards the discarded towels. "P-Please, I don't want you two getting sick," she pleaded with a weakened volume.

Raven clicked her tongue, "Stop bothering the leader and get your butts in the bathroom already!" she ordered whilst slowly unsheathing her sword. Summer stiffened before recognizing the impending situation and flailed her arms. She cried out tiny pleas for her teammate to calm down and reason out with the two. However, her cries were overpowered by the rising growl coming from Raven's throat. "Well!?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Both boys yelled in unison as they picked up a towel, and raced out of the room.

* * *

"Oh, boy."

"Shut-" He sneezed and grimaced. "-up." Grumbling and burying himself under the blanket, he groaned. "Why the hell was I the only one who caught a cold?" Qrow complained as Taiyang gave a shrug and curled his legs and rested his elbows on them. The blond grinned, obviously humored at his newly sickly teammate as he continued fighting against the tangle of blankets that Summer continued piling up.

"A-Are you comfortable? Do you need more pillows? Blankets? Want me to get another cold compress?" Their tiny leader fumbled around as she dabbed a handkerchief around Qrow's neck. She hovered around, swiftly going from one thing to the next and always made it into to dry off impending swear from the silver-haired boy's brow. He rolled his crimson eyes just as his sister did and glanced her way.

He delivered a 'please-stop-her-before-she-burns-out' sort of plead with his brows crinkling upward and he gave the most vulnerable pout he could muster. Raven deadpanned a disgusted look, her nose crinkled and lips turned downward. Qrow grinned, feeling surprisingly pleased at her reaction. And then he coughed, and drew his attention to Summer. Wisps of her hair was in the corner of his eye before she practically barreled into the center of it.

"Yes? Juice? Water? Hot tea?"

"Vodka sounds good," he responded, buying himself a disgruntled look from the tiny girl. Not a good look for her, but he had to admit that it made her ten times more adorable than usual. Whoa, where'd that come from? Must be from the fever.

"Qrow…" she whined, giving him a pout that none of the three were ever able to overcome. He shot a look at the other two, but they turned away, obviously not on his side.

"Sheesh, Summer, if you keep looking at me like that I might start crying." The pout remained and he grieved. "Juice, then. And maybe some comics too. And how about baking me some cookies?"

It was a long shot, but hey, if he was going to get spoiled, may as well go all the way with it!

"Well-"

"-Hey!" Taiyang complained, fuming, and even went as far as slamming himself atop of the mountain of blankets that Summer recently piled on Qrow. He ignored the hoarse yelp of his sickened teammate as well as the bemused look from a raven-haired sister. "I want cookies too! Please, Summer, please?" He resembled something like a puppy barking and wagging its tail for attention and a treat. Honestly, there were jokes already formed between the team members about that, but seeing it first hand was hilarious.

Summer, adorable as always, stuttered with evident blushes of red sprouting on her cheeks at the close proximity and eagerness. Words unable to form, her big silvery eyes looked at Taiyang with a timid determination, and she nodded. He cheered and basically flopped down, causing Qrow to relinquish a loud grunt. "Get off-a me!"

"Thanks, Summer!"

"Dammit, Taiyang, if you don't get your ass off me, I'm gonna-"

"-Gonna what?" the blond challenged as he rolled, laughing as he did so. "Gonna cough on me? Good luck. Summer swaddled you like a baby and you're not going anywhere! I guess you can say…"

Qrow grimaced. "Don't do it, I swear that I'll throw you into a nest of Nevermores if you do-"

"…You're all _tied_ up?"

"You're dead to me."

Summer snorted, hiding a widening and embarrassed grin behind her hands. She tried to shoot an apologetic look Qrow's way. He wanted to comment that she was dead to him too, but at least, she was concerned with him. The only one, anyway. Raven grimaced just as Qrow did and he faintly appreciated that, but all the same, there was a faint smile fighting to surface somewhere there.

Seriously, what was so charming about this idiot?

"C'mon, Qrow, don't give me that look while I think of you as…" he started snickering like this was going to be his best joke yet, "Team STRQ's _bundle_ of joy."

"That's it, I'm dead. Sorry, world, you lost one of your most charming and handsome future Hunters today. Please, let every pretty girl in the world get comforted for never being able to meet me," Qrow wallowed with an exaggerated sigh, and pulled a cover over him as Summer giggled and Taiyang snorted. He hid a grin at hearing their team leader laugh instead of worry.

"Maybe it's time we get some cough medicine from the infirmary, hmm?" Raven cooed, and Qrow peeked back up from beneath his blanket. She was already at the door, foot tapping against it. "That, or we can call a morgue. I'd be honored to put my brother to rest and cure the world of his stupidity."

"Like hell I'm gonna die dealing with your smartass comments," Qrow snapped, and felt a quick draw back, trying to stomp down an impending sneeze. Dammit. Stop it. He wanted to sneer at his sister before she continued making him look bad!

Summer continued giggling, always amused by the siblings continuous banter. Meanwhile, Taiyang watched, his lips eternally glued together in the form of an unwavering smile.

"Hey…" Raven hushed, as she leaned towards them with a hand cupping her ear. "…Did you guys hear that?" Curiously, they shook their heads, wondering what she was going on about. Qrow, however, felt the pit of his stomach knot up at whatever retaliation was coming his way. Don't do it, Raven, _don't…!_ "I think I heard the annoying squawking of my dead brother! Qrow? Qrow? Did you get smarter in the afterlife yet? Did you find a way to filter out the stupidity from your words yet?"

He scowled as the other two laughed at the rare display of Raven's childish side. A smirk played on her lips and her crimson eyes shone in response to the expected reactions of her fellow teammates. "Ha. _Ha."_ The silver-haired male coughed out a scowl as his own pair of scarlet eyes glared at his sister. She smirked. He groaned and felt a headache coming.

"I see the ghost has a poor sense of humor."

He grinned and she raised a brow.

"…What is it? Qrow, I swear, if you're gonna do something stupid, I'm going to feed you to a Nevermore-"

"Quoth the Raven!"

She gave him a murderous look before ordering, "Taiyang, hand me my sword. Also, sorry, Summer, I know you wanted all of us to graduate together, but, we don't really need a fourth member."

Qrow was laughing to himself as the other two teammates were shrinking in the face of Raven's wrath. She didn't wait for Taiyang to do as she ordered, and instead, went for it herself. Summer quickly reacted as did the blond. The brunette flailed for Raven to calm down as Taiyang finally rolled off Qrow, and bounced in front of the female Branwen as well.

"Wa-Wait, Raven, please relax! He's still sick!"

"I'm sure he'll get better with a few holes in him! Hey, Qrow, you'll get a few more pockets!" Raven growled, sword halfway out of its sheath. Her brother shrugged, unafraid of his sister's impending wrath. She gritted her teeth, displeased at his lackadaisical attitude after he upsets her.

Taiyang tried forcing her to put her sword away, frantically sputtering words to distinguish further flames of a fight. "Ye-Yeah, Raven! Give the guy a chance to get better before killing him!"

Qrow grinned. He loved his teammates.

* * *

He heard something set beside him. Moving his arms, he heard crumples of tissues shift and some pat down on the carpet. Feeling his sweat get the better of him, his drowsy state groggily tried to remove the blanket. Blinking, Qrow caught a glimpse of white, and squeezed his eyes shut.

Glaring upwards at the window, he guessed that it was already the evening. Oh boy. Don't tell him that he slept the entire day? Tugging at his collar, he shifted again, yawning and felt his fever go down a fair amount. Feeling his forehead, he raised a brow, and peeled off the compress.

Huh, this was new.

Maybe they checked in on him in between classes and homework. Or, in Raven's case, some combat training in the sparring room. Taiyang was probably off being social in the cafeteria and at a glance at the clock, he could blurrily see that it was around dinner.

Curfew wasn't until ten. So either the others were going to come in just before curfew, or they were going to come right after the kitchens close...

He pushed himself up, arms shaking and muscles flexing to at least sustain his position. With a final harrumph, Qrow got to sitting, but at a cost. He started feeling a bit dizzy.

...Either way, he had the whole room to himself. Or, so, he thought.

"…Qrow…?" Summer's very faint voice called out from the other side of the room and he stilled. Since when was she here?

"…mer?" He coughed, trying to clear out his throat so he could give a proper reply. He heard her shuffled out of her bed, the springs creaking, and her barefeet padding along the carpet. His forehead met with her calloused hand and he looked up, seeing her check his temperature. She had her own forehead covered as she focused on how warm he was. If he were not so used to physical contact with the other gender, you can bet that he'd be flustered.

"Still a little warm."

Well, damn.

She pulled away and smiled at him. "But better than this morning; you heal up quick," Summer complimented with a tenderness that earnestly made him mistake her for an angel.

"I can't just keep my beautiful self in bed all day; it'll cause too many girls to cry."

She giggled and he watched her pick up a rag, and lean towards him. He blinked as she dried away his sweat. "Wouldn't want that, hmm? It'd also be bad for Team STRQ to not have one of Beacon's best fighters around too."

He scoffed. "Don't sell yourself short, kid, you're not half bad yourself."

She rolled her eyes and wiped the cloth around his collarbone. "How about I remind you who the team leader is?" She pulled at his collar, and scoffed at his mockingly contemplative look. His scarlet eyes went upward and his lips pursed.

"Hmm…" he hummed while stroking his chin. Summer pulled back and had her hands on her hips, waiting for a sarcastic response from her quick-witted teammate. "That cute lunch lady who works here on Tuesdays? She looked absolutely stunning in that miniskirt of hers. Definitely below the standard issue."

She clapped him over the head with the sweat ridden towel and he laughed with minor complaining. "Shut up," she ordered with a slight smile and brought the rag down on the dresser. "…I made some cookies, by the way, and also snagged you some dinner. Soup, anyway, and some bread. I think Taiyang or Raven is going to bring you something more meaty, but I wasn't sure if you were going to be awake long enough to eat."

He blinked. "Is that why you're here instead of with Taiyang?" Qrow quickly cursed to himself. Wow. He didn't mean that, but it's obvious that it would've been better if Raven were with him instead of Summer. Summer halted before turning to him and giving him a questionable look.

"Why would I be with Taiyang?" She started looking perplexed and Qrow shamefully tried looking away. "He's not the one sick, and you wanted cookies, s-so… Do you not want me to take care of you…? I-I can call the nurse instead and you can sleep in the infirmary…?"

"What- oh, no, Summer, uh…" He screwed up. "…I was, uh, just wondering why you weren't eating dinner with Taiyang? You know how Raven is, she always eats really quick so she can study or practice or…" He hooked his thumbs together and fluttered his other fingers, pretending that his hands formed a bird. "…fly away."

He won a relieved smile out of her. "Mm…I can't just leave my friend when he's sick, even if he's fantasizing about a woman ten years his senior."

Qrow shrugged. "The heart wants what the heart wants, but, really, don't ya want to go hang out with healthy people? You got me food so I'll be fine."

"I felt like reading for the rest of the night," she answered and beamed another sweet smile. Then she picked up the bowl of soup, stirring it with the spoon, and scooped up some. Blowing on it gentle, she held it towards Qrow, who jerked his head back out of instinct. "C-C'mon, Qrow," she stammered, losing the confidence she had moments prior.

He glanced at her and then the spoon and back to her somewhat flustered yet determined face. "I'm not a kid."

"B-But you're sick."

Well, she had him there. "Fine."

Happy over her little victory, he slurped the soup from the spoon and she fed him a few more scoops. "I took notes for you for some of our classes," she started, listing on what went on today and gaining some more confidence as he politely nodded and downed the broth. It was a little salty, and had a lot more carrots than chicken, but it was good. He glanced down, eyeing the real prize.

Just looking at them, he could feel his mouth salivate at how the chocolate chips were going to melt in his mouth.

"You must be hungrier than I thought," Summer remarked, and he blinked. His attention was brought back to her as she dropped the silverware into a nearly empty bowl, and put it away. "There's juice in the mug too, and you should change out of the shirt too… B-But don't worry! I'll leave the room so you can do that, and I'll put away the bowl and get you something else!"

It became quiet before she bashfully grabbed the used plate and ran out of the room with the door flinging to and fro behind her. He caught the whiff of roses as well as the trail of rose petals leaving her. Qrow was in a state of perplexity. She was so different from Raven.

His sister wouldn't have batted an eye if he were shirtless and would sooner yank his shirt off rather than give him privacy. Hell, Taiyang would've been just as indifferent and say, "We're both guys, what does it matter?" and continue whatever it was he was doing.

"Cute," he mumbled, about ready to undress until the door creaked open and a clatter rang. "Hmm? Who's there?"

"U-Um… Qrow…? I'm sorry, b-but I forgot my cloak…" Summer's ever quiet voice whispered from the hall. "Ca-Can I come in…?" He could hear the blush in her tone.

She left her beloved cloak? How would she do that? She always had it on. _Alwa-_ Wait a minute.

Pulling his shirt back down, he looked at the pile of disturbed blankets on his bed. All red except for the startling white that contrasted and complimented the scarlet hues. The clandestine colored cloak was laid out, spread to fit the mattress, and flattened, save for a few wrinkles when he was trying to cool off. Fiddling with the hood, he let a soft smile appear.

Leave it to Summer to be a self-sacrificing leader - she gave up wearing her treasure hood so that he could be kept warm. He's amazed that such a saint would want to be a Huntress so badly, but, it also made sense. Always ready to be of help, she gave it her all.

"Yeah, you can come in."

The door groaned open, the hinges creaking weakly, as she peeked into the room to ensure he was dressed. Confirming that he was, indeed, fully clothed, she walked in and retrieved her cloak. Swirling it around her shoulders, she felt at peace and grinned at Qrow. "Rest up, Qrow, we have an exam during third period."

He weakly smirked, "Oh no…" She raised a brow. "…I think I'm feeling hot again. Don't think I'll make it through an exam. Guess you're gonna have to take it by yourself! Okay, good night!" He flung himself back to bed and yanked the blankets over him.

Summer gawked at his childish display and more so when he pulled back to grab a handful of cookies only to sneak under the covers once more. "Q-Qrow!"

Meh, it wasn't so bad that he was the only one to get a cold.

* * *

 **A/N Cont.**

To be honest, I'm all about one-sided love so this was easier to write than a lot of things aha...;;

For the Branwen sibling interaction, I just assumed that's how they'd act with one another since I have siblings and typically, we get into arguments/banter/usually know what the other's thinking when it comes to mutual friends, and such. Also, I based it on how Qrow treats Ruby and Yang in the recent episode (and past one, concerning Ruby) to how he'd treat Summer, Taiyang, and Raven.

I'm terribly sorry about the horrible jokes, I tried tapping into whatever humor my dad influenced me to have, but I didn't feel it ;; If I ever write another fic concerning Taiyang or Yang, I'll try to pick up a book on jokes or something. Well, until whenever next time may be!

~ _Ventus_


End file.
